Midweek Musings: "Updates" Are Nice, but NOT When you Constantly Have to Pivot and Change Stuff!
I got a "courtesy message" from commerce site Etsy (where I sell my painted mandala stones) this morning, asking me to bring my listings "into compliance" with some new format they have created to help potential buyers navigate the site.
I pondered this proposition for a moment, and then shook my head in irritation.
Nothing about those listings, and the way I do listings, has changed in several years and I just don't see the point of — once again — having to go in and manually "update" a single field of information, just because some developer came up with a new search quantifier.
Maybe my resistance to "updates" makes me an exception in this fast-moving world of ours. Obviously, Etsy is not alone in making frequent changes; my bank regularly insists that I "update my password" (about every six months), or I could be locked out of my online banking account until I update. Coinbase regularly insists that I "confirm" my deposit methods, even though I have already done so on multiple occasions.
I just find it all profoundly irritating... and keep thinking that it must have been a poor design to begin with, if it constantly needs to be changed.
Technology Shepherding People...
I sometimes end up reflecting on the fact that so much of this constant stream of change seems to have its roots in accommodating technology, rather than making life easier and better for people.
Our 31-year old daughter — who does a lot of IT work at a major company in Seattle — jokes about "Update Tuesday" because invariably all the Windows based computers in the office automatically update and render a bunch of people non-productive for 45 minutes, if they happen to be working at that time...
It would be easy for someone to point fingers and say that I am just "getting old," but my comeback to that is that I rejected this kind of "update fever" even when I was young and working in the IT industry!
GET IT RIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE, and don't annoy people with endless changes!
Addicted to Being Busy?
Upon reflection, I can't help but think that this seemingly compulsive "update obsession" is related to some kind of toxic addiction to having "something new" happen every 30 seconds. And to some extent it's a very American (USA) thing.
Back in 1981 when I arrived in the US as a new University student it seemed like I was suddenly surrounded by people driven by a sense of fearing that they were MISSING OUT on something, unless they were perpetually "engaged" in some kind of activity.
People were "living to work," rather than "working to live."
All these years later, I sit here and contemplate these constant "updates" and somehow wonder whether I have been "left behind" because I don't embrace them as the greatest thing since sliced bread.
But Have I REALLY Been Left Behind?
Aside from living in a state of relative financial insecurity, what have I actually missed out on? How have I been left behind? Is that I "missed out on" actually something I feel is lacking from my existence? Or are these things merely the window dressings of a societally mandated "image" we have been served up as "an ideal to strive for?"
Truth is, I'm pretty content with being "a little bit behind," and I can do perfectly well without an iPhone 14. Or whatever the latest "must have" bit of tech is.
After all... it'll just need to be updated every 10 minutes!
Just something to think about...
Thanks for reading, and have a great remainder of 2022!
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Created at 20221229 01:22 PDT
0709/1956
I have a landline and a tracfone because now you need a cell number to almost do anything. The only reason I finally got a cell phone was I was stuck in the Chicago airport, and there were not any payphones but ONE.....this was years ago now so maybe not even one. My Husband had a cell phone but was nowhere to be found.
Long story short. an hour later he found me, and when we got home I ordered a tracfone. It cost me 100.00 a year and every 2 years I get a new crappy phone for 100.00 PLUS minutes and everything else. I have never used all my minutes and after years of rolling over minutes, I will never run out.
I do not put any apps on my phone because if someone wants to talk to me they can call my landline so I can hear them clearly. I have programs that run just fine on my computer that I never update.
I hate change.
BUT, I do the computer updates because people are bored and lazy but spend hours upon hours looking for ways to steal from you. I put those updates on top priority.
But I still hold my breath doing computer updates waiting for my old computer to tell me "sorry lady your shit out of luck and I am going to die now
:D
Great Post!!
Hi @snook, and Happy New Year to you!
So you're even more of a Luddite than me! I finally got a cellphone in 2006 when I was about to drive myself and moving load of my life across the country from Texas to Washington state... and I just felt safer on the road on a long haul with a phone.
I upgraded to a (pretty stupid) smartphone about to years ago because our old carrier had pretty much zero coverage in the area where we live... and most of the time the service rolled over to Canada, and we ended up paying for "International Roaming" because we're up against the border (we see the lights of Victoria BC from our back deck). I still feel pretty stupid, using that smartphone. The features I use include... making phone calls. The camera is OK, in a pinch, for candid people shots.
Like you, I have an aging computer that's probably living on borrowed time... it continues to be workable because it was a "screaming hot" box when I bought it in 2011. Spent a chunk of cash to buy my way out of premature obsolescence. So far, so good.
Oh, I couldn't agree with you more! That is very well said.
I think I am just not a big fan of sudden change in general, and tech updates seems to be that and on a very regular basis.
I'm open to the possibility that change is "exciting" to a lot of people, but I'm just not one of them... particularly when it's technological changes that require me to waste time learning an updated system from scratch.
I agree… that’s why I like Hive… very few updates. And I earn a little extra cash from sharing my Photography, Artwork, Videos and Actifit updates. I don’t understand why more people are not flocking to places like Hive, Dtube, Actifit, Blurt etc,… I guess they will eventually. We are still early adopters… since 2017 😂
Wish more people did find their way here. As you know, I've been part of these kinds of "rewards for content' sites for over 20 years, and they invariably seem "underpopulated."
I think it has to do with expectations. Those who are drawn here think of making money as thousands of dollars and are disappointed when it doesn't happen... while little attention is paid to marketing to the market segment that is mostly made of of people with full-time jobs who wouldn't mind a little sideline cash for pursuing their art, writing, photography, music, vlogging hobbies.
Just have to be patient, I guess...
Yeah… anyone I introduced to Steemit, Hive or Blurt did not stick around after only earning a few dollars / day… but a few dollars a day can add up to millions if you power up some, and sell the rest to buy the Bitcoin dips on ionomy.com …. That has been my strategy since 2017… and it works. Patience is the key.
Patience is definitely the key... and that's something often lacking in this world of 256-character tweets and tik-tok quickie reels.
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